McCain's loss, Romney's gain. That's how Republican insiders were interpreting the surprise decision of former Minnesota Rep. Vin Weber, one of the earliest supporters of Arizona Sen. John McCain's 2000 presidential bid, to sign up this time with Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential campaign team — as policy chairman. Weber, who heads the prominent lobbying firm Clark & Weinstock, has remained influential as a national party strategist since leaving Congress more than a decade ago.

Weber's opting out of Team McCain is considered particularly significant given his longtime association with the Republican Party's leading economic conservatives, ties that that date to the early Reagan years. It suggests how fully McCain - and his 2008 candidacy - have come to be identified with the Iraq war to the exclusion of other issues. The war is increasingly unpopular with Republicans as well as independents attracted to the senator's maverick effort in 2000. Link